If you’re a young person looking for emotional wellbeing or mental health support, or you’re concerned about a child or young person in your care, please contact North East NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT).

The Trust offers a range of free support for children and young people aged between 0-18, as well as individuals with Special Educational Needs (SEN) up to the age of 25, living in Southend, Essex and Thurrock.

Open up, reach out - our vision for children’s mental health

We spoke to young people about the emotional wellbeing and mental health services available to them and what they told us set the wheels in motion for an complete transformation of these services.

Open up, reach out – our vision for children’s mental health in Southend, Essex and Thurrock - sets out a five-year plan for ensuring the right support is available to young people, when and where they need it. The plan reaches beyond health and care services to schools, clubs, groups, families and every public service that protects and supports children and young people.

The service offered by NEFLT was the first step in delivering this plan and whilst significant progress has been made so far, we know there’s still more to do. Open up, reach out - in year two outlined our priorities for action in the second year and reinforced our commitment to ensuring easier access to care, shorter waiting times and measurable improvements in the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people.

Now, Open up, reach out – in year three, highlights our achievements to date and reiterates our priorities for action over the next three years. These include continuing to place emphasis on prevention and early treatment to avoid more serious, long-term problems; working with multi-agencies and professionals in a joined-up way to wrap services around young people and their needs; and working together to develop community resilience, including working partnerships with voluntary sector and other public services.

Open up, reach out was originally agreed in 2015 and is refreshed each year before being submitted to the Essex Health and Wellbeing Board for noting. The plan will next be presented to the Board in March.